More good news for Mathieu van der Poel in his quest to add Mountain Biking World Championship to his collection: "I am sure that Mathieu can do it"
Mountain Bike
Mathieu van der Poel, the Dutch cycling superstar, is no stranger to world titles. With six cyclocross world championships, one road, and one gravel title to his name, there is only one major prize missing from his illustrious collection: the Mountain Biking World Championship. Van der Poel himself admits that this elusive title still plays on his mind.
In 2025, his path to the mountain biking crown could be slightly easier, thanks to a new UCI rule. The rule allows riders ranked in the top 10 of another cycling discipline to start at least from the fifth row at the Mountain Bike World Championships. This means Van der Poel, currently ranked fifth in the UCI rankings for both road and cyclocross, will not need to compete in numerous UCI mountain biking events to secure a favourable starting position.
The new regulation, implemented after the Mountain Bike World Championships in Glasgow, provides a significant advantage for multi-discipline riders like Van der Poel. For the upcoming championships in the Swiss Valais, the Dutchman can already count on starting from the fifth row, even though he currently has no UCI points in mountain biking.
National coach Gerben de Knegt commented on the situation in an interview with Sporza, saying, "It is true that Mathieu currently has zero UCI points in mountain biking. So he will not start at the very front. Even if Mathieu rode two World Cups, he would not end up in the top 100 of the UCI rankings."
While the new rule helps, De Knegt highlighted the challenges Van der Poel faces in his quest for the mountain biking title.
"I am sure that Mathieu can do it, but at some point before the World Championships he will have to get the feeling that he can become world champion," De Knegt explained.
He also noted the level of competition Van der Poel would face, pointing out the dominance of British rider Tom Pidcock, "It’s been a while since Mathieu has ridden mountain bike at the highest level. Tom Pidcock is the two-time Olympic champion, you can’t beat him that easily," said De Knegt.
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- She appears as dominant among the women as Pogacar is in the men's peloton. But she doesn't appear to have even a basic understanding of racing tactics. Moreover, it seems like the entire field races against her, including her own team. This is odd, as she seems like a nice person in interviews, but something is clearly going on. If she just wants to go hard, she might do better switching to triathlon, or just running. It doesn't seem like she is going to figure out bike racing.
Barney09-01-2025 - i have MASSIVE respect for vollering as an athlete. how can you not? but i do agree about the limits of her tactical and interpersonal skills. if she had both to the same degree as someone like kasia niewiadoma, she would end her career someday as one of the greatest cyclists of all time — male, female, whatever…OCexile08-01-2025
- Completely agree.Mistermaumau08-01-2025
- i’m pretty sure mathieu has never spent a moment of his adult life dreaming of winning the Tour. he’s known for a very long time that that’s not the kind of rider he is. I’m also pretty sure he’s known for a very long time that TDF stages count for a lot in the palmares of big puncheurs like him and wout. he hasn’t decided he doesn’t care about racking up stage wins at the tour because they wouldn’t matter in terms of his legacy. he KNOWS they would. so it’s more interesting than that. he doesn’t care about stages IN SPITE of knowing how much they “matter.” he doesn’t care because he just DOESN’T CARE about anyone else’s standards or judgments. he decides what he’s interested in, what captures his imagination, and he just does THAT (within the WIDE parameters of free choice he’s allowed at Alpecin, which are certainly wider and freer than anyone else in the peloton).OCexile08-01-2025
- Isn't the riders comming from indoor e-sport cycling crashing a lot?Jkolner12308-01-2025
- Right... Unless the two people above consider 2 Paris Roubaix and 3 Ronde meaningless... You don't win that many editions by being lucky.alsene08-01-2025
- Call it how you want, in order to win which matters to him, even if it’s for the team as lead-out, he has to and tries to be in top shape 10 out of 12 months, whether that’s a bunch of peaks, a couple of prolonged peaks or just that his general level is so good he can win anytime without peaking is a new discussion.Jumpyjohn08-01-2025
- I think he’s right and mental attitude is one of the biggest factors at elite level, especially over 3 weeks.Jumpyjohn08-01-2025
- Enforcing cease and desist isn't working. The site is still live (8 Jan 13:55 CET)leodis08-01-2025
- You’re both right but also both (me too) biased by this endless indoctrination through the expectations of others (no cyclist is worth mentioning without a tdf legacy) and sorry Fred but the part about him having to win the whole thing is misguided, Cavendish is venerated by most and he might not have even reached 50th in the how many editions he did (about double Merckxs). As rightly said Mathieu rides for HIMSELF (aside obligations) take it or leave it, I really don’t think he (and most others, even Cav or Pog) lie around in bed at night worrying or strategising about how to cement a place in history. We are lucky to witness a period where some of the best cyclists are (aside from money) motivated in the right way, you can often see in the authentic way they celebrate crossing the line after a huge effort, MVDPs are some of the best, 100% dedication, my favourite was the communion with his grandfather when he won that stage, it was visibly (worth seeing again if available) so powerful, I even think the only reason he tried the TdF at all (he’d never really shown any interest personally and I’m pretty sure it was a business “obligation” was in hommage to his grandfather who meant so much to him. Once done I think he realised he doesn’t enjoy it (should he (any of us actually) force himself to do a job he isn’t enjoying?) and saw no more reason to continue but being open he accepted to try something new, lead-out man and did it admirably. His riding career has now probably “peaked” and he’ll want to focus on those things personally still important before it’s too late and leads to regrets. I am sure he’ll regret his luck/carelessness at Olympics more than anything TdF related and among future goals, that will be his number 1 rectification target and sorry for those TdF obsessors (who often watch nothing else all year) but for many the Olympics are more important than eg the Tour, no matter what the majority of cycling thinks, and they have that right.Mistermaumau08-01-2025